Aurora I finally reached my dorm much later, after classes and dinner. Every step up the staircase felt heavier than the last, the elevators, for some weird reason were out of service.At the door of I room, I paused.Something felt off. Wrong.The hairs on my neck stood up as I pushed the door open.Inside, the room was a mess. My things were scattered, overturned, tossed aside without care. Matrons moved about briskly, rifling through drawers, upending clothes, searching for… something.“Hey!” I called out, frozen in the doorway. My voice was more confused than angry.What were they looking for?They didn’t answer. They didn’t even stop.Before I could demand an explanation, Mirabelle appeared behind me, her heels clicking softly against the floor.“Oh no. It’s happening again,” she said under her breath, almost like she wasn’t surprised.“Come on.” She gently took my arm and began to lead me away from the chaos.“You didn’t bring anything… odd, did you?” she asked quietly. “Nothi
TheronThe king sat at the head, the queen beside him, looking every bit the polished, regal pair they wanted the world to believe they were. I could imagine we looked like a perfect family, framed neatly among the other important guests who had come for the dinner and the interview.I understood exactly what this was.A well crafted illusion.Strength. Warmth. Family and unity. A tight-knit royal circle, sharing a meal while the world watched.Perfection. I scowled under my breath. I took small, barely-there bites of my food, unsure if I could swallow past the bile clawing its way up my throat. My chest felt tight as my gaze swept across the room, catching every perfectly timed smile. “And about the benefit program,” someone said lightly from across the table, “I heard new attendees arrived at the academy just this week.”“Ah, yes,” the king replied with a pleasant nod. “A promising batch this year.”“It’s a beautiful thing, what you’ve done,” the woman continued. “Keeping the prog
Aurora"It was our king,” Chrissy said flatly. “Well… former king, technically.”“She had a baby… and died?” Sarah murmured, frowning. “That’s tragic.”I nodded in agreement. “Is it though?” Chrissy asked, arching a brow.Her voice turned sharp, bitter. “She wasn’t even a proper werewolf. Some kind of freak—something no one could ever really explain.”Confusion rippled across the room.“Don't you guys get it? She wasn’t fully wolf. Not a shifter either. Just… something else.” Chrissy’s lip curled. “An abomination.”The word dropped like a stone.“Imagine—just imagine—if she really was pregnant, and that thing survived. If it’s still out there somewhere…” Chrissy’s voice trembled now, but with rage, not fear. “Our world would fall apart.”“But it was just a baby,” someone whispered. “Innocent…”“Innocent?” Chrissy let out a cold laugh. “That child was never meant to exist. She and the king were never meant to meet.”“She was rumored to be part hunter and also a witch. A weird mutation
Aurora Theron, you infuriating bastard. I swore under my breath as I walked away from the building. “Aurora?”A hand suddenly grabbed my arm, halting me.I turned sharply, still seething.Orion stood in front of me, slightly out of breath, concern etched on his face.“Hey,” he said gently. “I’ve been calling you. I must’ve said your name like five times while running to catch up. Are you okay?”I looked away, jaw clenched.“I stepped out from the center for a moment,” he continued. “Lucas said you went in, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”That’s because your charming friend locked himself and I in the damn dressing room! I screamed in my head, biting my tongue before it slipped out.I needed to cool off.Now.I started walking again, fists clenched at my sides.“Aurora,” Orion called, catching up beside me. “What happened? Did something happen?”I spun around so fast he nearly bumped into me.“Your friend happened!” I snapped. “He’s absolutely insufferable!”My voice trembled with
Few Hours earlier Theron. “Grey! Get your head in the game!”Coach Zafron’s voice ripped through the arena like a whip.I snapped out of it, shaking my head, trying to shove the distraction where they came from. My lycan growled low, pacing inside me like a caged animal.“Shut up,” I muttered under my breath. “What the hell are you whining about now?”I’d already screwed up twice. Dropped two passes. Missed one intercept. The team was pissed, Coach was livid, and I couldn’t even blame them.Not really.Two Lycans came at me fast, trying to cut me off as I charged toward the goal with the Moonstone in hand. The orb pulsed, slippery with lunar energy, but I held on—barely.Focus, damn it. Focus.But the second I tried to break past the line, I stumbled. One of them clipped my leg, and I hit the ground hard, rolling across the turf.He hesitated, eyes wide—checking if I’d snap his neck for it.The whistle blew.“Prince!” Coach barked. “Keep it together!”I shot him a warning glare and
AuroraI walked on slowly, but my head spun and I felt weak.Miss Grace had assured me that the damage from the practical wouldn’t affect my points. She also told me to check back in with her later. The thrumming at the back of my head returned, and at some point, I had to lean against the wall for support. That had really drained me.Was it the fear of failure that overwhelmed me and made me blow everything out of proportion Or something else entirely?That’s the thing with our energy—it could easily spiral out of control if not managed properly and it seemed I had dispensed and wasted mine carelessly.My head spun again, and I stumbled.The books in my hands felt heavier than ever, like they weighed a thousand pounds.“Woah,” a voice muttered as someone grabbed onto me steadying me. I looked up and met Orion’s serious gaze. “Easy, Velina,” he said gently.I stared at him incredulously. As he held me up. Another nickname? Did he have something against my actual name? He never see